Reading your way through a winter

Tuesday

Dec 9, 2008 at 4:00 AM

Winter will not begin officially for another couple weeks, but if you've been outdoors for any length of time the past month, you'd probably agree that it's been winter-like for quite some time. Each week, the temperature dips below freezing, and each day, the daylight gets a bit shorter and the nighttime a bit longer.

One of the ways I like to beat the winter is by reading. Several good titles are worth taking a look at that have to do with farming and rural life in general.

A classic example I continue to read are the works by Pulitzer Prize winning author Louis Bromfield, of Richland County, and better known for his legacy -- Malabar Farm. Most of his popular titles have been reprinted through The Wooster Book Company, of Liberty Street, and are available there to be purchased.

So far, I've amassed three of his books -- "Pleasant Valley," "The Farm" and "Out of the Earth." Each is a fairly lengthy read, but one that is in line with the agriculture of Bromfield's day, as well as our current agriculture.

You may find a few of his works to be a bit more technical and scientific than you like, but they're all rooted in the fundamentals of good farming, rural living and conservation for which he lived.

Another good choice is Holmes County author David Kline, who publishes "Farming Magazine," and has written a book called "Great Possessions: An Amish Farmer's Journal." The book is published and sold by The Wooster Book Company, and is also available at amazon.com.

Kline has spoken about the importance of sustainable, conservative agriculture at multiple events throughout the state, including the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Farmland Preservation Summit.

Kline has probably developed more respect and understanding of the Amish and sustainable farming than any author of our time. But to honor his own request to remain out of the news, I've never written about him in news articles.

Another good place to find good farm books is Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, where the recently remodeled store shelves books dealing with small-scale farming, animal health and pet care, Amish culture, antique tools and farm machinery and much more.

For a listing of books and their prices, visit www.lehmans.com and click on "books" on the left-hand side of the home page. Most of the categories are available with pictures of each book's cover and a brief summary.

If you're up for a more challenging read, or at least one that will require some more patience and interpretation, consider the works of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson -- these two authors have been and most likely will remain part of the literary cannon for quite some time.

Thoreau's "Walden," also known as "Life in The Woods," is an especially good read and is based on the author's experience of living in a small shack in the woods for two years and two months because he wanted to "live deliberately, to confront only the essential facts of life."

If newspapers are more your thing, then certainly continue to read The Daily Record, and especially the Agriculture section. But there are a few other, noncompetitive publications worth taking a look at, as well.

One is "Buckeye Farm News," a newsletter publication of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. Another is "Our Ohio," a glossy magazine that features farms and farm businesses across the state.

These are some of the many publications that can help keep you in good spirits this winter. And they will also help keep you informed of the trends in farming and conservation. With all that's changing in these areas, keeping a good list of things to read may be the best approach there is.

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